PHILADELPHIA — His pregame updates and post-practice briefings this season have been bereft of emotion. And between games viewed from the bench and individual workouts away from others, Andrew Bynum had provided scant reasons to believe that, at some point, he would wear a 76ers uniform.

That optimistic imagery seemed like a mirage Friday at PCOM, where Bynum painted a bleak picture for the remainder of his season with the Sixers.

Feel pressured to play? Not really. Interested in getting out there for pride’s sake? That’s secondary, too. Bothered by the growing perception that pain isn’t worth playing through?

“No, I don’t feel that at all,” Bynum said. “I feel like it’s my life, I’m 25 and I don’t want to have no cartilage because that’s really bad. That’s it.”

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Bynum gave an update on his rehab after Sixers practice. Grab a pen. This one takes a few turns.

The injured center said he’s experienced swelling in his right knee since Feb. 22, when he participated in a 5-on-5 scrimmage, his first on-court activity with his teammates all season. To that point, his right knee hadn’t been giving him problems. Rather, the left was the issue. That’s the one Bynum hurt in November while bowling — and while rehabbing the original injury, in his right knee.

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Here’s what all of that means: With 26 games to go in the Sixers’ season, Bynum said it’s becoming more abundantly clear that he may never play for this team. And Bynum, an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, said he doesn’t think he needs to play in order to demonstrate his value for his next employer.

“Being healthy is more important than everything else. If I am healthy, I’ll get a deal,” said Bynum, who’s making $16.5 million with the Sixers. “I have to be able to play and I need to get to the point where I’m healthy to play.”

The only thing keeping Bynum from shutting down his rehab operations for the remainder of the season, he said, has nothing to do with appeasing fans or making good on the Sixers’ trade for him last offseason.

Instead, it’s to stay in shape. He said he’s within nine pounds of his playing weight, even if the number on the scale isn’t nearly relevant as the games he’s played for the Sixers.

“I still need to stay in some type of shape,” he said. “I work when I can and take days off when I can.”

Since that practice more than a week ago, when he re-injured his right knee, Bynum said he’s been relegated to light workouts on elliptical machines.

How frustrating is this situation for Bynum? The big man went all medical in his explanations, saying surgery isn’t an option because one doesn’t exist to cure what he’s got. He said he expects to have a career beyond this injury — and he’s willing to wait for doctors to develop a treatment for his weakened knee cartilage. Straight-faced, Bynum discussed procedures of which no basketball players ever want to have a working knowledge.

“I think I’ll be able to play in some form or fashion in the future. They are getting close with things to do for articular cartilage,” Bynum said. “They just grew cartilage in a Petri dish. I think scientists are looking at it, doctors are looking at it. It’s a problem and they’re going to come up with something.”

Admittedly, Bynum is out of options. For months, he watched practice and received treatment and ice. In January, he ramped up his rehab to include basketball activity. In February, he incorporated basketball moves — cutting, running, jumping, pivoting. And last week, all of that build up from his August introductory press conference went out the window with a tweak in his first and only on-court workout with his teammates.

“I’m stuck,” he said. “I played in one scrimmage and it’s a four- to five-day setback.”

If you think it’s bad for Bynum, it’s been doubly worse for coach Doug Collins and the Sixers, who have had to meter their desire to view Bynum’s eventual return as the cavalry arriving just in time. The Sixers (22-34), mired in a season-worst seven-game losing streak entering tonight’s game with visiting Golden State, might never get to see what they look like with Bynum.

“I’ve been coaching the team all along like that,” Collins said. “To me, there’s always been that possibility. So does that mean I didn’t have hope he was going to come back? Absolutely, we wanted him back. You start looking at that — maybe we’ll have him for 40 (games). Maybe we’ll have him for 30. You keep that hope. Everybody has to have that hope.

“Now we’re down to 26 games and the reality is the there is not much more time left in it. From training camp on, I’ve tried to say, ‘We don’t have Andrew.’ Hopefully we get him back and he’s going to really help us. I haven’t been waking up going ‘I hope he gets back today.’ Do I hope that? Sure, I do. But I’ve got to focus in on these guys that are playing every night.”